Just a one shot I blatantly stole from Crimson-Wyvern attempt at a serious, technically intensive fight scene. He did the good bits, I did the Fun bits. And, yes, I am proud of what I did here.
Naruto blocked the incoming kunai. Effortlessly twirling his naginata as he scattered the knives, throwing them off course and into nearby trees. Yet his eyes never left the blonde man standing before him.
The similarity was uncanny. They had the same hair and the same eyes and yet he could tell the Yondaime had a sharper look to him in contrast to Naruto's own fierce expression. Naruto supposed he had gotten his proportions from his mother.
He blinked and the man disappeared from his view, but not from his senses.
"Toragaeshi (Tiger Return)!" Naruto spun on his heels and delivered a single swing with his naginata, releasing a wave of pressure and successfully blowing away the trees surrounding, the pronged kunai as well as the Yellow Flash himself.
The result was a makeshift clearing of sorts. His attack had uprooted several trees and cleared the area around himself, forming a perimeter of at least twenty feet.
As expected, the Yellow Flash was back to his original position. His eyes carried a certain wariness now. Likely because he had been able to predict his movements but also answer in kind.
He was no longer a simple obstacle, but a threat.
"You have good reflexes." His opponent commented.
"Thank you." Naruto smirked underneath his mask.
He knew what his father was doing. The older blond was assessing his weaknesses, trying to find an opening to exploit. Since his earlier attack had scattered the marked kunai his father wouldn't be able to attack from up close.
As long as he kept Minato at a distance his sensory techniques would allow him to keep the advantage.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)!"Of course, the liberal abuse of that particular technique rendered most plans moot.
Where once stood once man, now stood three.
The exact same number as the kunai he had thrown at him earlier. Naruto had to give his old man some credit, he did seem to think ahead when it came to battle. He took a deep breath, extending his senses outward.
The trio vanished.
They were likely surrounding him, using the kunai he had scattered to move outside the safe zone he had created to plant more marks.
A slight change in the air was all warning he got as a clone blitzed him, using the body flicker to swiftly cover the distance between the forest and the clearing.
Naruto turned swiftly, using the blunt end of the naginata to bash the clone back.
It didn't pop. But vanish in a yellow flash.
Was that the real one?
Another one came from the right, aiming to slash at him with a kunai. He responded in kind, using the blade the parry the blow before delivering a swift kick.
He vanished as well.
Something was wrong.
Normally the shadow clone technique was unsuitable for usage on the battlefield, being far better for scouting and espionage. However they were extremely fragile, popping after being hit with enough force.
Naruto could tell he was fighting clones. For one, this Minato did not have any marks or show any sign of pain from being hit with his weapon.
They came at him again and again, attacking him from the different angles but always one at a time.
He sighed.
"This is getting us nowhere."
"Are you so sure of it? After all, I have the advantage." The answer came from all around him, probably an attempt at intimidation
"You're wrong." And they both knew that.
No matter how many directions his father could attack from, all Naruto had to do was stay where he was and the man's usual blitz strategy wouldn't work.
We were in a stalemate.
A clone came out of the tree line, and just like before he countered. What he didn't expect was for a second clone to flash right on top of the first.
'Shit, he marked the clones!'
He grit his teeth and felt the familiar sensation of yang chakra burn through his limbs, allowing him to sidestep the following slash. Naruto quickly responded, putting all of his body's weight behind the next slash.
"Toragiri (Tiger Cut)!"
He felt the blade of pressure leave his weapon and noted with satisfaction that the clone had been bisected, finally popping out of existence. Unfortunately, the first clone vanished before he could deal with it.
'He won that round.' Tamamo commented, getting his eyebrow to twitch in aggravation.
'It was a tie.' But he knew it didn't matter. The future Hokage now knew he could make him move away from the center, and all Naruto got in exchange was that the certainty that the clones had indeed been reinforced somehow.
'Fuinjutsu. There were seals on the clones.' Before the kitsune could go in detail he felt a disturbance in the air.
Two clones flashed right in front of him.
Deciding to be cheeky, Naruto slammed his foot into the ground in front. No jutsu, just pure will and earth chakra. And for his trouble, he got a nice solid pillar of stone, about 20 meters across, for his trouble.
Under normal circumstances, that would be a waste of chakra. For someone like Naruto, the half second it took for the clones to jump to the top of the pillar was all the time it took for Naruto to even the battlefield.
And by even the battlefield, he meant absolutely crush his father.
Fully two dozen shadow clones surrounded and promptly beat the pair of opposing blonds to nonexistence. It was brutal. Naruto thought it was funny.
'Danna, don't play with your father. He's a very, very dangerous man.'
'Heh. Just you watch.'
"So, old man, is that really all you got? 'Cause if so, here I come! TAJUU KAGE BUNSHIN!"
Smoke enveloped their clearing. Somewhere, off of stage left, a man shouted and traditional drum music began to play. A thousand Naruto's stood in perfect formation.
"Let me show you the Will of Fire that burns in the heart of the Great Shadow! All clones, attack pattern 4, go!"
At once the formation rippled and out of it came a volley of A rank jutsu. Each technique consumed a clone, but a hundred such techniques leveled a huge swath of terrain around them. 'Coincidently', that much chakra would have destroyed any and all markers his old man had placed.
Before the smoke had even cleared the second and third waves had already mobilized. Two hundred clones had begun a mad dash outwards, each one ready to crush or kill anything that came at them while another two hundred dropped beneath the ground or into the air.
The Earth and Sky rippled as the army of black clad, naginata wielding warriors rampaged forward.
In front of them, easily half a kilometer back, a single ANBU, holding a pair of tri pronged kunai, stood perfectly silhouetted in the moonlight. Without so much as a twitch the pair of kunai seemed to launch themselves at the onrushing horde. With a single handsign, the ram, the kunai became thousands.
The clones, seeing certain death coming for them unleashed their chakra in a massive volley of wind natured chakra, destroying or disrupting the vast majority of the kunai, exhausting almost all of their chakra.
When the few remaining blades struck true the last of the earth bound clones were destroyed. Still, the flying clones and those safely hidden beneath the earth continued on. With a hidden smirk, Minato pulsed his chakra. The remaining clones didn't even have a chance to blink as every single remaining kunai exploded with the force of a dozen explosive tags.
As the dust cleared, Minato almost fainted at the sight he saw. Five hundred shadow clones, each having a fully formed, clearly elemental rasengan in their hands. He saw at least a dozen releases involved. It was….sobering that such power existed. Still, he would do his duty! And he would know neither fear nor respite, for he was ANBU, better than the best! ….And also Kushina-chan would probably beat the shit out of him if he came home too wounded.
Now standing with the resolve of a man committed to death, who had already died, Minato prepared himself for the greatest battle of his life! A true bushi and shinobi was he! One who fought as if life itself held no value, only the honor and glory of his sacrifice!
Taking a deep breath he began to mold his chakra, watching as the swarm of clones began to close in on him. With one last pulse, two reinforced shadow clones formed. The eyes of all three men like steel. The launched themselves forward.
With a roar a red aura formed around all three, clones and master alike. Their speed increased not only exponentially, but to the point the clones had difficulty tracking their movements. Still, they were legion, and he was only three!
Naruto was amazed at his father. This was the future Hokage, his future father! How could such a man have ever fallen!? Still, he had to laugh. He had escalated. He'd also been the one to start this particular fight. And now, now he'd take it even farther.
Naruto called upon all the nature energy he could, entering Sage mode in naught but a moment. His eyes began to glow amber, pupils turning slit and burning with a roaring flame, red-orange fang marking forming on his face and around his eyes. Nine Gudōdama formed behind him and an energy cloak formed around him. Clouds formed in the sky and lightning began to flash. Susanoo himself began to cry out at the furious battle yet to truly begin!
Namikaze Minato couldn't believe what he was feeling. Such energy and power to surpass anything he'd felt before. Even as he and his clones struck down dozens of their foes with each clash he knew this battle would take everything he had. With a nod between him and his clones they knew what had to be done.
One clone, the one that had taken the right flank, pushed itself past the seventh gate, taking on a flickering black aura and ripping through their foe, even as huge swathes of land were turned to glass and lava all around it, the rasengan losing integrity with the death of their wielders.
He and his other clone leapt back, many, many meters away from the ongoing battle, and knelt to the ground. They knew what needed to be done, and with only about thirty seconds of meditation, and the popping of the second clone, he stood up. His aura had dramatically changed. His eyes glowed with an orange fire smoldering in his face and the blackened aura around him caused the earth to warp and distort.
Both warriors looked at the other. An unspoken connection formed. The bond of true warriors who knew what had to happen. Only one would stand victorious this day!
Both popped their remaining clones. Both leapt forward.
When their strikes met their collision caused an explosion of force and wind so great a crater had formed around them. Naruto stood on air, trusting the Six Paths Sage Mode to keep him afloat. Minato simply flickered, sub consciously using the hiraishin and the sensory abilities of senjutsu to keep himself perfectly level with his son.
They both smirked.
Their second clash was far more intense, though the blast back was much, much smaller. Whereas before they'd engaged with massive blows, intending to cripple or destroy the other, now the lashed out with a thousand, thousand small blows. Each flickered in and out of reality, striking out, aiming for fatal blows, each knowing that single mistake would mean death or dismemberment.
This continued on for a time, neither warrior showing exhaustion, but both knew this clash would lead them nowhere. With a telepathic order, all of Naruto's truth seeking balls flew out, moving in groups of three. Each group individually charged an incredibly powerful elemental jutsu. Minato, having previously been simply keeping up with the insane speed of his opponent, dodged behind each cluster and struck them with fully charged, senjutsu infused rasengan.
The explosion was, to both Minato's and Naruto's immense chagrin, nearly fatal.
Naruto had been preparing the equivalent of multiple S rank jutsu in each ball. Minato violently destroyed all of them. More or less simultaneously. Of course, opposing sources of nature chakra simply enhanced the stupidly large explosion even further.
Both men stood tall. Each staring at the other. From opposite sides of a smoldering crater. Both took a moment to thank their teachers that they'd learned a technique that let them move faster than light. Quite broken, really. Especially when compared to the average shinobi. Still, thems the breaks.
With a mental shrug, each turned to the other and prepared to return to battle with a renewed vigor! Only for Minato's sage mode to run out, his hachimon, and for him to promptly fall forward and face plant.
"Hah! I knew I could take you old man!" And with his declaration, Naruto's muscles seized in a spasm of rather intense pain. He not only fell forward, but rolled down the rather steep incline he'd been posturing before.
Father and son shared one thought. ""Owww….""
The rest of Minato's squad appeared by him in a quick, smokeless shunshin.
"Senpai, that was incredibly….attention grabbing."
Minato knew he'd probably fucked up. What with getting into a death match of the scale that usually required either a pair of kage or a jinchuuriki. Still, he figured it was worth it. He'd really gotten to stretch his legs for the first time in a long, long while! And it also showed him how far he still had to go. If the other guy hadn't been dicking around, Minato would have been in grave danger. So, knowing what he had to do, he issued one last order before passing.
"Make sure you grab the other guy too. I wanna talk to him. Something about him is way too….familiar." And with that, father and son were once again on the same page. Blissful unconsciousness, that is.
"Hey, Tiger-senpai, I found this naginata over here. I think it belongs to the other guy."
"Well, grab that too, no telling how important it is. Minato-senpai gave us an order."
"It's stuck."
"What do you mean it's stuck?"
"I mean it's been shoved into the ground and then layered with seals…. I think it'll cause a ferret to explode out of my ass if I touch it."
"...Just bring the whole section of the ground with us."
"Hai, Tiger-senpai."
AN - Wyvern: I am getting back at you for this, just saying.
Alvor: Octopus.
Wyvern: And now everything you say just makes me angrier.
Alvor: Youth?
Wyvern:..Don't you dare…
Alvor: Say it with me, my most dedicated and fiery kouhai! For today is the springtime of our life, so raise your hand to the sky and let loose your YOOOUUUUUTTTTHHHHH! 'Nice Guy Pose ™'
Wyvern: I need a drink...